


The Bookclub(s)

by the_bookwyrm



Series: Friendships in the Void [1]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Bookclubs, Books!, Voyager Crew Members, and friendship!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-06
Updated: 2018-03-06
Packaged: 2019-03-27 17:10:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13885341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_bookwyrm/pseuds/the_bookwyrm
Summary: Even in space, there’s nothing more fun or relaxing than reading a book.





	The Bookclub(s)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [m_class](https://archiveofourown.org/users/m_class/gifts).



> Hello everyone! This is my very first Star Trek Voyager fic, and I’m pretty excited about it! This is the first in a series about friendship, and the bonds that form after seven years in space together. m_class was super kind in agreeing to be my beta reader in this, and extremely helpful! 
> 
> I hope that you all enjoy!!

As Chakotay made his way down the hall toward the holodeck, he took a moment to be grateful for the peace and quiet – _Voyager_ hadn’t been attacked in almost two months, which was, sadly enough, a very refreshing change. Then again, maybe he shouldn’t be bringing attention to it, even in his head – the last thing he wanted to do was jinx them.

Stepping off the turbolift into the corridor, he rolled his shoulders in preparation for his coming boxing match – he hadn’t had a chance to box in almost two weeks, and he was definitely going to be feeling it tonight. Grinning in anticipation, he was just about to start up the holodeck when he heard the sound of yelling coming from further down the hall. He sighed, but left the holodeck behind as he moved towards the sound of the fight.

Despite himself, he was a bit worried. The Maquis – former Maquis, he reminded himself sharply – had seemed to be getting along with the original Starfleet crew lately, and no complaints of that nature had crossed his desk in almost three weeks. Had he become  complacent? Maybe he should be keeping a closer eye on the crew for a while. If they were having problems and no longer bringing them to him… It did not bode well.

Rounding a corner, he came upon the sight of Lieutenant Aman and Ensign Noble in each other’s faces, both yelling angrily and gesturing with fury. The Lieutenant was former Maquis, and the Ensign was Starfleet. He barely repressed a sigh and moved toward them, not that they noticed.

“Hey! What seems to be the problem here?” The two spun around to face him, falling into startled silence, before both beginning to yell again. Chakotay rubbed the bridge of his nose before crossing his arms and waiting to see how long it would take them to notice. To their slight credit, it only took them a few moments before they did, and fell silent again.

“Thank you. Now, again, what seems to be the problem here? Ensign?” He turned toward Noble expectantly, and they came to attention quickly.

“Sir! The Lieutenant here is _wrong_ and does not seem to be grasping that fact! As though Malik would ever end up with Nilah! Anyone could see that they are completely wrong for her. The narrative completely supports–”

They were interrupted by the Lieutenant’s scornful laugh. “As though Malik will ever go for T’av. Anyone with _sense_ can see that Malik and Nilah were made for each other. Literally! Nilah was actually, literally made for Malik, as her creator had them in mind while she was designing Nilah. T’av was just a random stranger that happened to get involved out of nowhere!”

“Out of _nowhere?!_ ” They’d turned toward each other again, and Chakotay really did sigh this time before clearing his throat loudly. They both jumped.

“What – exactly – are you two arguing about?”

They both looked surprised and answered in unison, “A book!”

Slowly the story came out. They had started a bookclub about six months ago, and involved quite a few crewmembers, former Maquis and Starfleet alike. The book they were reading this time, one none of them had read before, was called _Circuits and C’Thia: Love’s Labors Lerakhoval_. The argument was over who the main character, a nonbinary human named Malik, would end up with romantically in the end – Nilah, an android, or T’av, a Vulcan.

Chakotay rubbed his forehead – that was _definitely_ a headache he could feel coming on. “So let me get this straight: your entire argument is about who a character will end up with romantically? Why can’t Malik just… date both of them?”

Both members of the bookclub stared at him in disbelief.

“If that was going to happen, Commander, the book would’ve started hinting at it chapters ago! There is no way they will end up together.” The Lieutenant was eyeing Chakotay like he thought Chakotay had starting phasing out of this plane of reality, and Chakotay glanced down automatically. Stranger things than that had happened on this ship, after all. But no, he was still very solid, and he looked back up as the Ensign started talking.

“Commander, with all due respect, there is no way that the author meant for them to all end up together. In this _one thing_ , the Lieutenant has a point. If that was the case, the author would’ve starting bringing the narrative threads together over a hundred pages ago!”

Chakotay narrowed his eyes. “Just how long _is_ this book?”

Ensign Noble huffed impatiently. “It’s only 947 pages long, Commander. And, again, the narrative threads would’ve started coming together around page 367 if that were the case… Unless…”

They looked over at Aman, eyes widening, and again both spoke together. “The argument on page 298! Excuse us Commander, we have to go!”

They rushed off down the hallway towards the turbolift. As they went, Chakotay could hear them giggling with excitement, saying things like “This changes everything,” and “I knew they were meant for each other!”

Chakotay waited in stunned silence until he couldn’t hear the duo anymore, then dropped his head into his hands. Just when he thought this crew couldn’t get any stranger…

* * *

The next day on the bridge, Chakotay could feel a subtle tension permeating the very air, and he knew that everyone else could feel it too. He just didn’t know _why_. Even Tuvok seemed to sense it, and he usually took no notice of tension unless it was affecting someone’s work. Kathryn tapped the armrest between them, and he leaned closer to her. 

“Do you know what’s going on? Is there something that I need to be worried about?” Usually she left the crew to him and focused on the bigger picture, unless he brought something to her attention. If even the Captain had noticed the tension… perhaps it was time he got to the bottom of this.

“Nothing yet, Captain. I’ll keep you apprised of the situation.”

“Very good, Commander. As you were.”

* * *

Lieutenant Aman and Ensign Noble stood at attention in front of Chakotay’s desk. He’d called them both in right after their shifts had ended – it was always better to nip these things in the bud if possible. It was probably good that he had – they seemed to be even angrier with each other than they had been yesterday, and that was saying something. 

“Can either of you please explain to me why the members of your bookclub seem so angry with each other lately? It’s started to affect crew relations; even crew not in the club have been more tense lately.”

Lieutenant Aman spoke first; Chakotay noticed that neither of them seemed to be willing to look at the other. “Unfortunately, after close examination of the book, both of us have agreed that there is no way Malik will become romantically involved with Nilah and T’av, so Ensign Noble and I have found ourselves at an impasse.”

The Ensign nodded. “The rest of the bookclub has divided down the middle, Commander, each splitting into two camps – those that hope Malik will end up with T’av, and those that hope Malik will end up with Nilah. Tensions are high as we near the halfway point of the book, and I don’t know if we’ll be able to reconcile our differences.”

Chakotay looked from one to the other, seeing the determination on their faces, and sighed. He seemed to spend quite a bit of time sighing lately. “Have you considered splitting the bookclub up? Making two different bookclubs instead? Maybe that would help settle this.”

* * *

Kathryn watched the scene in the mess hall as she sat down with her breakfast. Chakotay was going to be joining her in a minute, but right now she was alone, and the scene in the rest of the mess was _fascinating_. The diners were split into two obvious groups of people, and both sides were glaring at each other as they ate and talked. The weirdest part was that they weren’t separated like she’d assumed they would be when she first saw the division – between the former Maquis and the original Starfleet crewmembers. No, both groups contained some of each crew, who weren’t acting awkwardly with each other at all. It was just the two groups that didn’t like each other. 

Chakotay entered the mess hall just then, and she waved him over with a small smile.

“Commander,” she greeted him as he sat down.

“Captain,” he said, equally polite. “Do you know what happened here?” he added, with a small flick of his eyes toward the two groups.

“I have to admit that I’m quite in the dark,” Kathryn admitted.

Chakotay took another look at the groups, then groaned quietly.

“Problems?”

“Not quite, Captain. It’s just that I figured out what the groups are; it’s the bookclub, now the bookclub _s_.”

“We have a bookclub on board?”

“We used to, and then they decided to split apart due to ‘irreparable differences.’” Chakotay sighed heavily, and Kathryn coughed to cover a small chuckle. He looked at her and smiled wryly. “You think that’s funny, hm?”

“You have to admit that it is, just slightly. What were they even fighting about?”

“Romance, apparently.” Chakotay’s voice was dry as dust, and this time Kathryn couldn’t fight off a small burst of laughter. “I know, that was my reaction too, but there is a ‘love triangle’ in the books, and they couldn’t decide on whom they wanted the main character to end up with, so they split into two different bookclubs.”

“Ah, romance, the great divider.” Kathryn took one more look over at the two groups and shook her head. “Well, as long as they don’t let it get in the way of their work, I don’t see a problem with letting it play out. Let’s just hope it doesn’t get too out of hand.”

* * *

Lieutenant Aman and Ensign Noble were in Chakotay’s office again, and this time he hadn’t even needed to call them in. They’d scheduled a meeting with him themselves. 

“So, how can I help you two on this fine day?”

They both smiled at him. “You were right, sir, and we’re here to admit it.”

“I was right? About what?” Chakotay was genuinely surprised about this – neither of them seemed like the type of people who liked to admit they were wrong.

“About the book, sir. Malik does indeed end up with both Nilah and T’av, and upon a second reading there’s actually quite a bit of foreshadowing leading up to it. We all just missed it.” Ensign Noble shrugged their shoulders and ducked their head a bit sheepishly, and the Lieutenant nodded seriously, then continued where the Ensign had left off.

“So after quite a bit of talking and apologizing, we’ve decided to merge the two bookclubs back into one group. It turns out that it’s just not the same when you all agree with each other’s interpretations.” The Lieutenant turned to smile at Ensign Noble, and they blushed slightly, which Chakotay smiled to see. It was always nice when two people — or two bookclubs — worked out their issues.

“Well, I am indeed glad to hear that; it’s good that you’ve resolved your differences. So, what do you two have in mind for the next book?”

* * *

In her ready room, reviewing crew reports and looking forward to dinner, Kathryn looked over to Chakotay and smiled. “So, has the bookclub resolved their differences yet? Or are they doomed to separation?” 

Chakotay smiled in return. “They have indeed resolved their differences, and even decided to merge the two separate clubs back into one. It seems that _I_ was right about the book’s ending, and the romance ends in a triad.”

“Well, that is good to hear! Have you heard any gossip about what their next book will be? Another romance?”

She set the report down on the desk, picked up another from the pile and tapped her fingers thoughtfully against it.

“And do you know when they meet?”

* * *

Kathryn held her datapad a little tighter in her hand, but forced herself not to back away from the door. She’d made it this far, and there was no turning back now – after all, her bridge crew always said that she needed to relax more, and what was more relaxing than reading? 

She strode toward the door with confidence, and emerged into a room with chairs set up in a circle; most of them were filled with crewmembers from a variety of departments, and they’d all looked to the door when it had opened. When they realized that it was the Captain, most of them had stopped talking to stare in disbelief.

“Captain!” Ah yes, Kathryn thought, this was Lieutenant Aman, one of the co-heads of the bookclub. “What can we help you with today?”

“Well,” Kathryn said wryly, “I was actually hoping that you still had a spot available in the club for a fellow lover of books?” She held up the datapad in her hand and smiled at him, then at Ensign Noble, who’d followed him to the door just a bit behind.

They grinned at her. “New members are always welcome! Please, come in and join us – we’re honored by your presence, Captain.”

Kathryn’s smile widened and she moved farther into the room. “I’m honored to be able to join - books are just what this ship needs. After all, there’s nothing more relaxing than reading a book!”


End file.
